MADURAI: Seven NEET repeaters from the district, this year, secured seats in medical colleges under the 7.5% reservation for students who studied in government schools from Class 6 to 12. Of the seven aspirants -- all of them took up private coaching for NEET -- six got MBBS seats and one secured a seat for BDS course, during the UG medical counselling held recently.
C Snega, who secured the highest marks (487/720) among the seven, gained admission to MBBS course in Madurai Medical College. She studied in Tamil medium and attempted the exam thrice. “My school teachers guided me to study NCERT books, which helped me secure good marks,” said Snega, who aspires to become a cardiologist.
R Priyanka, who scored 466/720 in NEET, secured admission to Tirunelveli medical college. Priyanka, whose father runs a tea shop, said her parents supported her despite several challenges to take up private coaching for the entrance examination. She said the free NEET training offered by the government was an eye-opener.
P Udhaya Mareeswaran, who scored the third highest mark among the seven students, said, “Last year, I got a BDS seat under the 7.5% reservation. This year, I got an MBBS seat in Thiruvarur Government Medical College. Though I studied in Tamil medium, the continuous training helped me to get the seat.”
Similarly, during the UG medical counselling last year, six students secured MBBS seats and two got BDS seats under the 7.5% reservation category. However, no government school student from the district, who had only taken up the free coaching offered by the state government, secured a medical seat under the reservation category this year.
District NEET coordinator for government coaching S Vennila Devi told TNIE, “Till last year, we had been offering a 45-day intensive training for students after the end of the Class 12 examinations. However, securing high marks in NEET requires continuous training. We had suggested the same to the respective authorities, and starting this academic year, continuous, year-long training has commenced for the students of government and government-aided schools, block-wise.”
She hoped the year-long free training would help students clear the examination in their first attempt and secure seats in medical colleges.